


Demon's Blood

by The_Rose



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Chapter 2 is heavier on its topic, F/M, Mild non-con, Rated m for a reason
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-05-02 06:56:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14539125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Rose/pseuds/The_Rose
Summary: One day, Illidan got transformed into a mindless demon, his conscience is lost deep inside his mind. There’s only one person able to take him down, and it’s Maiev.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy !

The vision became blurry. The forms lost all meaning. The head was aching, almost like drums were played in it. The skin was burning. It was too intense. He groaned. He growled. He hit every single walls. The pain was awful. He couldn’t even talk. Only making noises.

What was happening?

He saw indistinct forms coming towards him. They didn’t felt dangerous or hostile. He heard sounds. He would have swear they were talking. They approached even more. They were now all around him. He tried to look at them but he didn’t recognize any of them.

He heard a metal sound.

He didn’t waited.

He attacked.

 

“Khadgar!”

Kayn burst through the door, screaming and covered in blood, holding one of his arms, badly injured. He was barely standing on his feet, looking like he would collapse at any time, his body was crying for him when his eyes couldn’t. Everyone in the room looked at him until Khadgar get up and ask what was happening.

“It’s Illidan…He…We…” He tried to explain but he couldn’t even believe it himself.

Seeing how difficult it was for the Demon Hunter, Khadgar forced him to sit and brought him something to drink, hoping it would help Kayn to find his words.

“We don’t know what happened…” He finally was able to explain. “We saw him in the Fel Hammer, changed. It wasn’t him. It was just a vulgar demon. But with his essence…”

They could see him losing himself in his memories, unconsciously trying to touch the wounds Velen just healed, opening them again.

“We tried to talk to him but he didn’t listen…I’m not even sure he was hearing us.” Kayn continued to explain. “We almost imprisoned him when someone hit a weapon and he attacked us.”

The silence became even heavier.

“We succeeded to banish him on Mardum and we had to set up the defenses of the Fel Hammer. We need your help Khadgar.”

Only the silence answered him as they had to realize what Kayn was implying, almost hoping the situation wasn’t as bad as they were imagining. Then, a hysterical laugh broke the silence as Maiev finally get up from her chair.

“So…You’re telling us that Illidan is, once again, a threat?” She asked, her smile not visible but not difficult to imagine.

“This isn’t what I said!” Kayn panicked, he had hoped that Maiev wouldn’t know about that. “We just have to catch him and bring him back to normal, everything will be fine.”

“No. There’s no “bringing him back”.” Cut Maiev. “I will kill him and destroy his body once and for all.”

She quickly looked at Khadgar.

“Like you should have done in the Nighthold.”

Kayn really wanted to stop her, convincing her that they shouldn’t go that far but deep inside himself, he knew Illidan might have been lost for ever. The last time he saw a Demon Hunter in such state, they had to kill them as fast as possible. But this time it was Lord Illidan. How was it even possible? He couldn’t succumb to the fel and become a real demon. It was impossible. Finally, not knowing what word to say to stop Maiev, he lowered his head, looking at the floor, his teeth clenched.

“Good.” Only said Maiev as she saw the Demon Hunter accepting the fate of his master.

She turned to face everyone else, her umbra crescent slowly swinging left to right as her impatience grew. She was already smiling and almost everyone felt a cold shiver on their back.

“Unless someone else has the guts to kill him, I’ll do it.” She claimed as she got in front of the door.

“I’ll guide you to Mardum.” Reluctantly said Kayn, trying to get on his feet, his teeth still clenched.

“No need. I’ll find a way.” She responded to a distressed Kayn. “And before I forget…You and your kind better find a way to redeem yourself before I get back or you’ll join your master.”

And she left the room, quickly followed by Khadgar, hoping he could convinced Maiev to not kill Illidan. He succeeded to catch her up and grabbed her arm, only to get a knife on his throat.

“Please Maiev, just bring him back. Alive.” He carefully said, not leaving his eyes from the knife. “He’s needed.”

“Needed? No he isn’t!” She hissed. “No one need him...You just made him believe that filthy lie and look where we are now. He even attacked his own filth!”

“Maiev!” His voice raised, arcane’s sparks around him. “I forbid you to kill him!”

 “Don’t try to impress me Khadgar.” She growled. “No one will stop me from killing him, not even you and your stupid magic. I saw worst!”

And before the mage could add anything, she blinked behind herself, putting distance between them and she quickly turned around to leave the building. The hunt was waiting for her.

 

Putting her back her cloak, Maiev protected herself from the cold wind of Mardum. She had searched for a trace of Illidan all day, starting by the Fel Hammer and moving through the almost deserted place. She would never admit it but the Illidari did a really good job of cleansing the zone as she had barely encounter any demons. And the few dumb enough to attack her were already back in the Twisting Nether, where so many of them would join them. She took out of her bag the food she had bring with herself, as she felt her hunger growing. And slowly, she got lost in her mind, thinking about not too long ago, when she had met Illidan for the first time after his resurrection.

“Please Maiev, not now.” He softly said, not caring about the knife slowly cutting through his throat.

“And why not?” She had hissed, determined to kill him.

“I…Please. Let me do what they want me to do.” He added. “After that, I promise you no one will ever hear of me again.”

“I don’t trust you, Betrayer.”

“Please.”

She refused to remember why she had let him alive in the end. Maybe the innuendo that he would probably kill himself after they defeated the Legion. Or the fact that he almost begged her to let him live. Or was it something in his voice, the way he was talking? She shook her head, trying to get those thought out of her mind. It wasn’t the time to think about that. Angered against herself, she put herself against the rock behind her and brought her legs against her chest, her cloak covering all of her body and she tried to sleep.

A noise woke her up.

As fast as she could, Maiev got back on her feet, her crescents ready to get throw at the responsible of the noise. She held her breath, not moving at all, just looking in front of her, hoping nothing would attack from behind, even if it would die anyway. Slowly, she turned on her feet, watching all around her, being as slow as she could to not trigger any attack response. But nothing was in her sight and nothing attacked her so, she relaxed and went back against the rock, but only sleeping from one eye this time.

 

It was discreet but she had find strange marks on a rock. She put her hand on it, trying to imagine what could have let them. Clearly not claws as it wasn’t deep. It looked more like something rubbed the rock and it was reminded her of the stag who would do it on tree. She kept the idea the horns might have done it in a corner of her mind. A little lower, she found green demonic blood, the traces indicating her that the thing who had lost it was most likely leaning against it and slowly fell on the ground. The two clues were leading on that path. And when she looked all around, she saw more of those traces.

In her mind, she imagined Illidan, fighting against a demon, trying to kill it by robbing it against the rocks, multiples times.

But at the same time, she had doubt. Wouldn’t she see a body if it was the case? Or at least some part of it? But the place was clean if she wasn’t looking at the walls of rock. She took a last look at the different patch of blood and realized that some were still fresh, meaning that whoever made that, it shouldn’t be that far. And she was sure it wouldn’t be a waste of time to go take a look.

 

The pain was horrible. His head was going to explode. He growled even more. He could feel his claws slowly sinking in his skull. His vision was still blurry. He couldn’t see where he was going. He fell on his knees. The pain was growing and he screamed. It was a brutal and desperate howl. He couldn’t produce any normal sound anymore. He threw his head on the ground, hoping to end the pain. His horns stopped him.

A sound. Metal feet against the rock.

He looked at the sound. His vision adjusted just a little. He knew that form.

Danger! Danger! Death!

He got back on his feet, slowly moving backward.

The form moved forward.

 

As she had followed the traces of what she thought was a fight, Maiev finally found Illidan. At first, she heard him, growling. Then she had seen him. And she didn’t knew how to react. He was all black, his tattoo brighter than never. His horns were scratched everywhere and his body covered in bruises and dry blood. She could only see his face of despair as he was trying to hurt himself. He was clearly fighting against his own corruption, not even paying attention to his surroundings and now, she had a more precise image of what might have happened earlier. It was his blood on those walls.

She decided to intervene. Not caring if she was alerting him of her presence, she went straight to him, still trying to choose what she would do. She saw him looking at her and his face went from despair to fear and she couldn’t help herself to stop smiling. He tried to put more distance between them and she had to suppress her laugh.

“Still afraid of me? Good.” She calmly said, still moving forward. “You didn’t forget who killed you.”

He growled, recognizing some words, warning her to not come closer. The pain was so unbearable that he just stopped feeling it. His sight became less and less blurry. But he was still moving forward until he met a wall. Growling even more, he prepared himself to attack.

Maiev smiled as she saw Illidan trapping himself, his primal instincts being as clever as its owner. She could see him, ready to attack if she tried anything but she wouldn’t let him the chance. Or she would take him with her. She continued to walk, Illidan growling more and more. Finally, she was right in front of him, only a few inches apart and, like she had guess, his growls were only there to intimidate her.

The slap went off.

“You fucking beg me to let you live and this is how you thank me?!” She shouted, her hand still in the air. “You just let yourself get corrupted like a vulgar demon!”

Illidan wasn’t moving, his head still in on the side after the slap. His mind trying to process what was happening. He tried to talk but she wasn’t done.

“And Khadgar wanted me to not kill you?!” She was now laughing from nervousness. “When he’ll see what you have become, he’ll give me reason!”

She tried to get her weapons but her body refused to move.

“To think that I trusted you…I believed your fucking lies…” Her laugh faded, slowly turning into tears that she fought with all her strength. “You’ll never betray anyone again Betrayer. Farewell Illidan!”

He saw her getting a knife out and he was ready to fight. But the pain was back. He felt his head almost exploding. He screamed and everything became black. His body fell on the floor.

Illidan started screaming before she could even touch him with her knife and, surprised, she took a step backward, looking at him suffering, almost trying to rip out his horns. Finally he fell on the ground. All around him, she saw some kind of green steam volatilizing in the air as he became smaller and that his skin went back to his purplish color. She could only look at the steam, feeling his demonic energy from where she was and felt a small headache starting. She took a note of it, convinced he had something to do with Illidan state.

After a few minutes, he groaned, feeling the pain of his fall. Using his arms, he tried to get up but could only raise his head and in front of him, Maiev was still there.

“Maiev?”

“What a shame…” She only said.

And before he could do anything else, she blinked on his back, put her arms around his neck and choked him until he was unconscious again.

 

The first thing that surprised him when he woke up, was that he hadn’t any headaches, the only clear thing he was remembering from the last days. He looked around, happy to be able to see correctly again. His body was aching and even if he couldn’t remember it, he was still feeling it hitting walls and rocks in a desperate tentative to stop the pain.

He heard some voices coming from behind the door and he realized he was most likely in Dalaran as he could see silhouette of peoples all around him and probably a lot of Illidari watching him through the walls, waiting for him to do something. He stopped looking at the empty room and tried to concentrate to hear the conversation.

“Well…I obeyed at last!”

It was Maiev’s voice, sarcastic as always.

“Wasn’t it what you wanted?!” She continued. “No need to thank me, I already regret it!”

“Please Warden Shadowsong, calm down.”

Khadgar’s voice.

“You brought him back alive. I won’t reprimand you.” His voice made him looked really tired. “Just leave it to the Illidari now, you need to rest.”

She hadn’t responded and Illidan looked at her, leaving the door. And he went back into his memory, trying to remember what happened with Maiev at that moment because he was sure she was there. He even saw her before blacking out again. He could only remember one thing, she didn’t killed him when she had the possibility and it was letting him wondering why. She had talked to him, with anger and she also hit him. But nothing has really been a threat for him. And something in her voice made him understand he shouldn’t have been alive right now.

But still, Maiev had let him live.

The interrogation still on his mind, he saw Khadgar entering the room, two Demon Hunters behind him. The mage sighed but still smiled when he saw Illidan was awake.

“So Illidan…What happened to you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it !  
>  Next chapter coming soon.
> 
> Unfortunately, english isn't my first language so if someone is interested in becoming my beta-reader for the language, hit me up on my Tumblr!  
>  Or if you just want to talk about WoW, my fics, someone else fics or anything, you can still hit me up there!  
>  You can also find my Masterlist with all the fics I plan to write ^^ Don't hesitate to tell me which one you want !
> 
> https://thewritingof-therose.tumblr.com/
> 
> Later!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this chapter but be warned, the end is kinda heavy! (The fic is rated M for a reason)

“Please Maiev, not now.”

Illidan could feel the knife on his throat, getting deeper, slowly. He wasn’t even able to swallow or to move, knowing that Maiev was only waiting for an excuse to cut his throat open.

“And why not?” She hissed, the knife pushing against his skin.

She wasn’t even looking at him, only looking at the blood dripping from the wound, the hand not holding the knife shaking and he could hear by her voice that her teeth were clenched. His instincts were screaming at him to catch the knife but he knew it would be useless, even if he succeeded, another knife would be on his throat before he gets the time to throw the first away. His last option was to talk to her, even if he had to beg her. After all, maybe it was what she wanted.

“I…Please. Let me do what they want me to do.” He said, softly, almost a whisper.

He finally made her raise her head, looking at his face. Her anger was still shown but now, he could see some kind of surprise in her eyes and for a moment, she wasn’t so sure of what she had to do. Illidan knew it was the moment to save his life.

“After that, I promise you no one will ever hear of me again.” He added, his voice shaking against his will almost as if he was crying.

The pressure decreased on his skin as he felt Maiev hesitating, now looking on the side, searching in her mind for help, to know what to do. The temptation to step backward out of her reach was strong but also really dangerous, he couldn’t give her any reasons to threaten him again. But quickly, he felt the knife back in the wound.

“I don’t trust you, Betrayer.” She spat, her anger growing back.

“Please.”

This time, he couldn’t stop himself to grab her free hand, holding it in a prayer as his entire body began to shake, his way of crying. As he felt so close to death, his mind was replaying memories of the Twisting Nether, of his wandering but he didn’t want to get back there. He fell on his knees and wasn’t even able to look at Maiev anymore as he got lost into his mind, without realizing he was muttering.

The knife dropped on the floor in a metallic sound echoing through the room and he felt her hand leaving his. Before he could realize what was happening, he heard her running away and soon, the only clue she had been there, was her knife, still on the floor, tainted with his own blood.

***

Illidan could only groan as he opened his eyes. He didn’t know why he had dreamed of this meeting after all this time. Maybe was it because he couldn’t understand Maiev’s recent action so his mind was trying to find the answer. But still, he couldn’t stop wondering why she hadn’t killed him in the end if she wanted it so much.

He looked around, his spectral sight showing him the Illidari still watching over him through the walls while two were in the hallway, in front of the door. As he could barely remember how he got corrupted in the first place, Khadgar asked him to stay under strict surveillance in a room full of spell to neutralize him while they were doing some test to understand how it could have happened. The last thing he could remember was him doing some paperwork for the army of Legionfall before getting a really bad headache.

At the memories of the pain, he touched his head, frowning. This was currently the only clue they had about his sudden corruption but it wasn’t helping. It could serve as a warning in the case Illidan was fast enough to realize what is happening but it wasn’t useful at all to find the cause. Even with an entire week of test, they hadn’t found anything and came to the conclusion it would stay a mystery until it happens again. Meanwhile, Illidan had to stay and wait for Khadgar’s approbation to finally get out once he would be deemed safe.

Sighing heavily, he turned in the bed, knowing that the best way to not alert anyone was to keep lying down. At least, he had all the time he needed to think about the situation even if it was hurting.

 

Like a lion in cage, Maiev was pacing, her cloak flying behind her, clattering in the wind every time she was turning. All around her no one dared to approach, knowing it would the worst idea they could have. Even some of the bravest adventurers and champions decided to come back later when they saw Maiev’s mood.

In the meantime, she was lost in her thoughts. She still couldn’t believe how she didn’t take the possibility to kill Illidan for the second time and now, she would have to face him. Even angrier at herself, she walked faster, trying to empty her mind but every time, it was back to Illidan and how scared he had looked when she faced him in Mardum and his lasts words when she first tried to kill him again was repeating in her mind constantly.

She finally saw Khadgar reaching the top of Deliverance Point, followed by Illidan and she realized she couldn’t stay near him for now. So, before anything could happen, she decided to run away. When she crossed their path, she quickly muttered to Khadgar that she needed to do something outside Deliverance Point and continued her way without waiting. The Archmage didn’t even have the possibility to stop her that she was already too far away.

Once she was far enough from everyone, Maiev let herself stop and out of rage, threw her helmet on the ground and sat, looking at the horizon. She wasn’t understanding herself anymore since Illidan came back to life. At first, she thought that if she was killing him again everything would get back to normal but then, she spared his life and since, she was fighting against her memories to not remember why but it was hard.

All his muttering about the Twisting Nether, ghosts, voices, dreams, death and her…

She shivered and frowned. Why did it have such an impact on her? Why did it succeed to stop her? She was so close to putting an end to his life once again but she ran away. The way he wasn’t even conscious of her anymore when he started to mutter all those things were almost able to scare her and now, she was wishing she had never learned that information.

But the real question was, why was she so eager to kill him again? After all, she was certain that killing him in the Black Temple was enough, that she had finally avenged everyone and that any regrets she had were gone…

But instead, she left herself get consumed by his last words, believing and feeling that she was nothing. She could barely remember the years following the Black Temple, only her anger as she could only feel the emptiness. She spent so many days watching over his dead body, doing nothing and feeling nothing, not even realizing how many years were passing by.

And suddenly, Illidan was back.

Not only did she already found pleasure in fighting again when Gul’dan took Illidan’s body but now, she was finally feeling something else than anger and it felt so good. But at that time, she could have never guessed it was linked to Illidan’s returns so she let once again the anger consumes her until she was unable to kill him again. Twice.

Maiev only wanted to scream her frustration and just punch him in the face but she wasn’t sure she could do it, not understanding why she was thinking that. She only groaned as she gets up, picking up her helmet on the way and dusting it.

A week ago, she could have lived with her failure, telling herself she’ll do it another time but now that she had seen him corrupted and hurt, she was barely able to look at him. She didn’t really know what she was feeling, maybe it was sadness or pity but it was hurting her in the process because she knew she shouldn’t care about him.

And still…

She spared his life when she realized he could come back and even kept watching him all the week in secret, telling herself it was to be the first one to kill him once he would get corrupted again. She knew she wanted to be the only one to kill him but the more she was repeating it, the less it sounded true.

The rising wind got her out of her thoughts and she noted that once again, she hadn't realized how long she had been there, lost in her mind. She could only sigh as she put back her helmet, slowly walking back to Deliverance Point, praying that Illidan wouldn't be there anymore. She knew she would have to face him soon enough but she wanted to do it in her own conditions, meaning it would be a meeting for later.

Unfortunately, he was still there with Khadgar and Velen and if at first she really tried to get there and just ignore them, she hadn't the strength to do it and instead, she turned around before they could see her.

 

A few days had passed and Illidan was feeling relieved. No headache, no corruption, nothing bad had happened this far and for a moment, he was finally feeling free. And thankfully, Khadgar decided that only the people in command and the Illidari should know about his sudden corruption so the champions and adventurers wouldn't be afraid of him or try something like killing him.

But the strangest was that since his recovery, he hadn't seen Maiev at all. When he was still locked in his room in Dalaran, sometime he would have sworn to see her watching him but he hadn't any proves. And now that he was back on the Broken Shores, she was nowhere to be seen and she always had an excuse for Khadgar to explain her absence. A part of him was thanking Elune for it, meaning he could have some peace and not being constantly threatened by a simple look but another part was wondering why she wouldn't be watching him, ready to strike at any signs of corruption.

He was still trying to understand why she hadn't taken the chance to kill him and he knew that a simple order from Khadgar wouldn't stop her from doing what she was believing to be right.

He stopped in front of his room, looking at the door. He would have sworn something was off but he couldn't put his finger on it. Everything was normal but it was almost like someone put demon’s blood on it, preventing him to see through it. A cold shiver rolled down his spine at the memories of the last time it happened, his hand caressing his throat where a small scar had been left. A reflex.

Knowing it was most likely a bad idea, Illidan opened the door and entered the room, doing his best to not show any fear. He couldn't and didn't want to give her that pleasure. He closed the door behind him and could only sigh when he saw Maiev, leaning against the wall right where he wouldn't be able to see her when opening the door. She was wearing the bare minimum for her armor, like the last time, and she was clearly waiting for him, arms crossed, barely looking at him.

“Maiev.” He acknowledged her. “Came to finish the job?”

His hand was still on his throat as he felt the scar burning, a painful reminder of the night she tried to kill him. But this time, he didn't know if he wanted to fight back or not. And maybe it was why she was there, she wanted to hear him beg for his life once again.

As he was expecting an answer, she surprised him instead by turning around him, looking at some wounds he had, most of them made when he was a mindless demon trying to end the pain.

“What are you doing Maiev?” He could only ask as she was now touching his back.

“I saw the blood loss back there. Just making sure it healed.” She answered, her fingers walking from wounds and scars.

“And why?” He hissed as she touched one still painful.

She stopped there, not even looking at him. For a moment, she looked lost in her mind almost as if she hadn't thought of it. Unless she was gathering her courage to find the right words. But one thing sure, the silence was slowly getting on his nerves and Illidan didn't know how to react. He had expected her to try to kill him again, not making sure he had healed or something like that.

Finally, she went back in front of him and grabbed his jaw with one hand and forced him to face her.

“Listen Illidan, your death is mine.” She told him, barely a few inches from his face, looking right into his eyes. “I’ll decide when you die. I'll decide how you die. So don't give me that bullshit of corruption or whatever.”

“You’re telling it like I decided to get corrupted.” He groaned.

“Oh don't worry,” she smiled ferociously, their forehead now touching. “I'll take care of that.”

She finally let go of her grip, stepping backward. He could still see the anger in her eyes, even if for once, it didn't seem to be aimed directly at him.

Before he could add anything else, she was already leaving the room, adding one last “Your death is mine.” and disappeared in the hallway.

Illidan ended up crashing on his bed, laughing nervously as the stress was finally fading. Maiev wouldn't stop surprising him in all those years. First, she was infiltrating the Fel Hammer to put a knife on his throat and now, she was doing it again but to tell him she was going to protect him or something like that? He couldn't really understand her but at the same time, he felt relieved she wasn't going to threaten him anymore for some times.

One less thing to worry about.

 

More days passed and Maiev could feel herself lighter since she finally spoke to Illidan, even if it hadn't been the perfect conversation.

She finally reached a conclusion for all those feelings making her life really hard those last weeks. As much as she hated it, when Illidan was alive, it was like her life had some purpose and that in some way, she would always be needed. But once he died? Nothing. Only anger and emptiness. So, she decided that the best option was to keep him alive.

But first of all, she couldn't stop thinking of the corruption. Illidan would have never let himself get corrupted like that and especially not this early after his resurrection. So the only explanation was that something had been able to do such thing and Maiev was decided to find it and if possible, to get the one responsible to pay for it.

Sneaking into the Fel Hammer once again, she was examining the room where everything started. A simple room with one big desk and a chair, perfect for the paperwork. But no matter where she was looking, she couldn't find any clues to what could have started the corruption. She found obvious claws’ traces in the desk and on the walls but it was most likely when Illidan tried to keep the control if he ever did. Otherwise, it was looking completely normal and Maiev groaned from her frustration.

They might have been some clues. Illidan couldn't just transform into a mindless demon out of the blue just like that.

Thinking that maybe his memories had been altered with his state, she decided to get out and start examining the hallway, hoping to find more clues there. But once she got out of the room, she met with Illidan, not surprised anymore about her presence in the ship. He was waiting for her, arms crossed as his fingers were slowly tapping on his arm.

“What are you doing here?” He whispered angrily, not wanting to scare the Illidari with the Warden’s presence.

“Already told you, I'll choose your death.” She responded, whispering like him. “And there’s no way I let you get corrupted again so I have to kill you.”

“I would appreciate your help better if it wasn't behind my back!”

“I already know everything you know, you couldn't help me anymore.” She retorted.

Illidan could only sigh, looking at the ceiling and wondering what he did to get Maiev acting like that. No that he wasn’t appreciating it but he just couldn’t understand how it came to be. A few weeks ago, she was trying to kill him.

“Listen Maiev,” he continued to whisper. “Almost anyone who knows what happened inspected that room and that hall without finding anything. Case closed so now, get out.”

“Then how did you get corrupted?” She hissed angrily. “Unless you did it on purpose…”

“Because you really think I would?!” He countered, his voice rising. “I tried to kill myself in that state!”

“I know! I was there!”

“Lord Illidan?” A sudden voice asked, coming from the end of the hallway.

Acting like nothing was happening, Illidan quickly turned around to face the intruder, slightly spreading his wings to hide Maiev from their eyes, hoping she wouldn’t move and shut up. Then, he took a deep breath and hoped for the best.

“Yes?” he simply said, his arms still crossed.

Really embarrassed, the dreadlord shyly joined him, looking at the wall to not face Illidan. When he was finally at his level, he took out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

“Important information from Dalaran.” The demon stuttered, his arms slightly shaking. “They asked me to deliver it to you.”

“Thank you, I’ll be reading it. You can get back to your occupation.” Illidan told the dreadlord, dismissing him.

“Thank you, my Lord.” Stuttered once again the demon, bowing before walking backward to leave the hall.

They were finally alone once again. Illidan quickly put the sheet of paper in his pants, decided to read it after getting Maiev out of the Fel Hammer. He looked back at her, seeing her examining the entirety of the place by afar, maybe hoping to find some clue no one would have found but he knew, and she should have too, that it was useless.

“Maiev, please.” He tried one last time, exasperated now. “Just leave, you won’t find anything.”

“I know…” She ended up to say, softly, almost looking down. “But there might be an explanation…Something!”

For a moment, Illidan considered accompanying Maiev back to Dalaran but he was also wondering if it wouldn’t be better to not let the Illidari knew she was spending way too much time on the ship. Some of them had still their imprisonment stuck in their throat and would prefer staying away from her for all eternity.

With all of that, he felt the need to rest, feeling a slight pain on his face. He rubbed it and kept watching Maiev, now completely lost in her mind as she was desperate to find the truth. As he was still unsure as if he had to get the Illidari aware of her presence or not, he waited, slowly rubbing his temple while trying to relax. It wasn’t the time to get a headache and not being functional for a few hours.

Without realizing it, he was now scratching his skin with his claws, hurting himself in the process while not being able to keep the eye open as the pain was growing. He started to breathe heavily, panicking as he finally realized that he knew too well the pain. With just one look at his arm, as it started to smoke black, he knew it was too late.

“Maiev get out…” he begged.

She finally opened her eyes, Illidan’s voice getting her out of her mind and she saw him, stepping backward, looking everywhere around them, looking completely frightened, one hand still on his head.

“Illidan?” she asked, trying to get him to look at her. “Illidan!”

He brought his second hand to his face, holding his head, bending over as his body slowly took a black color, his tattoos vivid as never giving the impression they were burning on his skin. He was growling, not even menacingly but more like he was scared. He was shaking his head as if he was trying to get rid of what was taking possession of him. He wasn’t aware of his surroundings anymore until Maiev put a hand on his arm.

“Illidan! Talk to me!” She commanded, doing her best to not let the panic be heard in her voice.

And now, his eyes were on her as he growled even more, this time menacing her. He began to walk, right to her, forcing her to step back until she met the wall behind her and he was way too close to her, his horns thankfully blocking him, giving her some space. In that state, he was unable to talk and the growl coming from his throat was almost scaring her.

Maybe he was finally going to get the revenge he never got in the Twisting Nether.

Maiev was thinking fast, faster than she never thought as she couldn’t just rely on her fighting skills. A lot of solutions came to her mind but almost nothing satisfying. She could shout after the Illidari to get help. Blinking and getting away really fast. Knocking him down. But whatever she was choosing, the risk that someone would discover it was happening again was too high and if it were to happen, he would most likely get killed. If she doesn’t have to kill him herself.

She fought back the tears. Now that she knew she needed him in her life, she wasn’t going to let him go again.

“I already told you I wasn’t going to kill you!” She hissed, only making him growl even more menacingly.

He made himself look bigger, his shadow all over her as she decided that the best for now, wasn’t to fight back and keeping herself an overture to leave really fast if needed. Meanwhile, she was replaying their first encounter when she found him on Mardum and how he came back to normal but no matter what, she couldn’t stop herself to think that her intervention had been useless. It wasn’t with one little slap she could have gotten the corruption out of him.

But he growled once more, this time clearly showing his fangs, right at her face and looking ready to bite her to blood and most likely kill her for good. Before she could clearly think about it, she was slapping him, the harder she could.

“Come back you dumbass!”

At least the slap had some effect on him as he stopped growling and Maiev could only see the sadness washing his face as she believed that somewhere, deep inside that beast, Illidan was watching her, helpless as he was only a spectator of the monster taking the control of his body, only acting on its instincts. She was feeling it.

“Illidan…” She softly whispered, putting a hand on his cheek, looking directly into his eyes. “Fight. I’m here.”

And he began to fight. He was once again growling but it wasn’t entirely for her this time. One part of him wanted to see her dead as his claws went more than one times way too close from her throat or heart, only to be stopped by the other part of him who didn’t want it. At that moment, she had never been so happy to have let her armor in Dalaran, sure that if she had been wearing right now, it would have most likely triggered an attack. It was quite impressive to see him fighting with himself and for a moment, Maiev thought it was the right time to get away but as she took too much time to decide, Illidan had finished his fight and was back to blocking her against the wall.

She didn’t move, waiting to see which part won, hoping that the real Illidan would be back soon. He put a hand on her, almost on her shoulder and quickly, his fingers began to move, slowly going down until they reached her pants and she could only look back at his eyes, a silent no in her eyes.

“Illidan?”

She was asking for him to wake up and take back the control of his body but once again, she only met the sadness in his eyes, even if this time, they were something else with it. Something she couldn’t really put her finger on it.

Something like some kind of want.

He ripped off her pants, taking her underwear in the way and her first instinct was to scream for help but she refrained it. Not only it would be too late but if they were found like that, Illidan would get killed on the spot and the more she was thinking about that possibility, the more she was refusing it. She didn’t want to get back to what had been those years when he was dead. Never would she accept that emptiness once again.

Even if it was meant to let him hurt her intentionally. 

He had also ripped out his own pants and she was able to see his dick, already hard and she could only brace herself even if she only wanted to cry.

It shouldn’t be happening like that.

She put her arms around his neck and caressed his head, closing her eyes, waiting for him.

“I’m here…I’m here…” She whispered in his ears as her only hope was that he could get back to his normal state if he got tired.

Almost as if he was waiting for that signal, he pushed himself inside her and she had to repress a cry as he began to thrust hard and fast. She was almost biting her own arm to blood to stop any noises from coming out of her mouth. She couldn’t alert anyone now. She kept holding his neck, one hand on the back of his head as she tried to not hurt him.

Meanwhile, Maiev let her mind wander and imagine what she never dares to do. Trying to make the situation more bearable, she imagined they were making love, maybe teasing on how they hated each other so he would be rough with her. She almost smiled at the idea and regretted it wasn’t the case. But she did her best to keep the illusion.

He put her back against the wall, his hands on it as his claws were slowly digging in it. His pace wasn’t slowing down in the slightest but she continued to imagine a better scenario where she wasn’t at the mercy of a mindless monster but instead, in Illidan’s loving arms. She was finally accepting that fantasy and losing herself in her mind but the pain in her back brought her back to reality.

She almost screamed as she felt her skin getting torn apart on the wall at every thrust, getting harder as he seemed to get close to cum. A really unpleasant smell of iron invaded her nostrils and she immediately knew it was her blood she was smelling. This time, she wasn’t able to fight the tears but only a few rolled down her cheeks as she grabbed his shoulder, her nails leaving traces on his skin.

Around her, his hands weren’t moving from the walls even if she was hearing them scratching it, leaving some deep cut in it. Even his head was above her and she could perceive the sound of his horns slowly cracking under the pressure he was putting on them. Everything was screaming at her that Illidan was still fighting for the control and that for now, the best he could do was to make sure she wasn’t getting hurt more than needed.

She wasn’t feeling her back anymore and her vocal chords were refusing to work anymore. As she was gradually losing consciousness, everything in her mind was concentrating on what would happen after and immediately, she knew what to do for herself even if it was risky. But what was able to maintain her aware was Illidan’s state. What if he wasn’t turning back to normal after that? And what if someone was discovering him like that? What if someone found them right now? She wouldn’t even be able to defend him and she knew she was clearly looking like someone who needed help.

Finally, she felt him cum inside her as he thrust one last time, his growl getting lost in his throat. He stood still, panting and his breath was so heavy it was enough to keep Maiev’s back rubbing the wall. Not without difficulties, she raised her head and tried to look at him and she would have sworn he was asking for death with his eyes. Then, his head fell on her bust and his hooves slipped on the floor, making him fall as he brought Maiev with him in his fall, her back sliding against the wall one last time.

She was now sitting on the floor, exhausted and trying to get back to reality before realizing it was the reality. She looked at Illidan, whose head was now resting on her lap, completely unconscious and felt the tears slowly coming back even if she was still not crying. Even if she didn’t want to do it, she looked at the wall and saw with horror the blood covering it and her only relief was that the pain she was currently feeling didn’t felt like a broken spine. She also tried to move her body to verify it and thankfully, everything was moving.

Suddenly, she saw his body getting covered once again by that green steam and once it had evaporated, only the usual purplish Illidan was there and she tried to smile but the tears won. She didn’t know if she was crying from pain, relief or happiness or if it was a mix of the three. She let herself fall and hugged his head as the tears wouldn’t stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it !  
>  In the next chapter, I'm closing the story and I hope you'll like it. Stay tuned for it !
> 
> Unfortunately, english isn't my first language so if someone is interested in becoming my beta-reader for the language, hit me up on my Tumblr!  
>  Or if you just want to talk about WoW, my fics, someone else fics or anything, you can still hit me up there!  
>  You can also find my Masterlist with all the fics I plan to write ^^ Don't hesitate to tell me which one you want !
> 
> https://thewritingof-therose.tumblr.com/
> 
> Later!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy ^^  
> (I know I said I would probably not write for the next three months but I just had to finish this story before 2019)

“Khadgar!” Maiev hissed, knocking at the door with insistence. “Open! I need your help!”

Finally, a really sleepy human opened the door, looking rather angry but also a little surprised at the mention she needed his help. Khadgar barely got the time to tell her she could come inside that she was already storming into the room, her cloak falling on the floor and she was trying to get rid of her chest plate.

“Maiev what are you doing?!” Could only ask the mage, watching the Warden undressing.

“Told you, need your help.” She hissed between her teeth as her shaking hands were refusing to untie the last piece of the chest plate.

It finally fell on the floor, joining the cloak and Khadgar could only gasp at her bleeding back, a hand over his mouth.

“How?!” Also screamed Khadgar in horror, unable to get his eyes out of the wound.

“Was patrolling on the Broken Shore,” explained Maiev, now breathing with difficulty. “Fell into an ambush and got hurt. I need you to heal it.”

“You should go and see a real healer!”

“I refuse!” She groaned. “If I do that, everyone will know about it and my reputation will be shattered. So shut up and do something.”

As Khadgar was trying to argue once more, she added she was trusting him and it was enough to finally get him to start working on her bleeding back.

Her explanation was barely a lie as she couldn't let anyone know she had been badly injured but the real reason was that any competent healer would have seen the flaws in what she was saying. They would know her back couldn't have been hurt while patrolling if she was wearing her armor, and especially if her armor was intact. And she would also bet her back was looking more like someone used it to clean some rocks than getting hurt by some weapons. But she knew that Khadgar would be way too concerned about her safety to realize her lies.

“You still should see a real healer,” Khadgar mumbled, slowly cleaning the wounds.

“If it’s still hurting in a few days I’ll do, happy?”

As a more sensitive place got clean, Maiev broke her nails as she clenched her fists on her pants but she couldn’t give him any reason to make him escort her right to someone more skilled.

“Is it really painful?” he ended asking after a small silence, remembering all the stories he heard about Maiev and how she went through way more shit than just a wounded back.

In her mind, Maiev couldn’t stop herself to replay the scene. The look on Illidan’s face right before he lost his consciousness was haunting her. Her body screaming at her as she carried him to his room, avoiding everyone. How she had to force herself to put her armor and walk to Khadgar.

She fought back a tear.

“More than you can imagine.” She whispered more to herself.

Khadgar did his best to hide his surprise and kept cleaning her back, thinking that indeed, a warrior like her might have been hurt in her ego to get injured in an ambush, one of the simpler trick in the world. He didn’t know if he had to be glad that she fell from her pedestal or if it wouldn’t be correct.

He was now applying a cream on her skin but the silence was becoming really heavy and it was making him nervous. He thought of asking her question about the ambush but a little voice in his head was telling him to not go there or it wouldn’t end well and he was certain that she was still able to fight despite the pain.

“I guess you killed them.” He simply said, trying to break the silence.

“I did get rid of it.”

Silence again.

“Are you planning on coming back to Deliverance Point?”

The sigh didn’t go unnoticed.

“Once I’m done with my current hunt.” She said, in a more determined tone. “I’m closing in.”

“If you actually tell us more about that threat you’re talking about, it would probably be faster or easier.” Reminded Khadgar, wrapping her back.

“I told you, I still haven’t found who the threat exactly is so I need the less information to leak.” She sighed once more before whispering. “It became personal.”

“Well…If you need help, we are there.” Said Khadgar.

“I’ll remember.”

Finishing his task, Khadgar carefully cut the wraps and look at it proudly. For an emergency help in the middle of the night, it could have gone worse and Maiev wasn’t looking that bad anymore.

“You will probably need to change it in three days,” warned Khadgar. “And I’ll refuse to do it so you’ll have to see a real healer.”

Maiev only dismissed it with her hand, in a way telling that she would probably not do it or find an alternative suiting her. The Archmage sighed out loud to show his disappointment but he couldn’t do more. Maiev got up, frowned but hid it, took her armor but decided against putting it back and walked to the door, ready to leave. She stopped before opening it.

“Thanks.” She said before storming outside.

 

The sound of metal crashing on the floor echoed in the room but Maiev couldn’t care less and let herself fell on her bed, groaning with satisfaction that she was finally able to lay down. This night might have been the worse she ever had and she already had plenty of them, some being really close to what she experienced this day. Not only did she felt like her search for Illidan’s corruption went nowhere at first, and even worse, stepped back, but if Khadgar was learning about it, or anyone in fact, it would be the end. Pure and simple.

She tried to move a little but her back began to hurt again but this time, as she was alone, she let herself cried out the pain, face in the mattress to muffle any sound while keeping her back free from weights on it.

The more and more she was thinking about it, the angrier she became. She was angry at herself to have let it happen, to not have been able to avoid the situation and worst, not have been able to think of a better way out. She was angry at the corruption itself and at the one responsible for it, still certain that Illidan was just a puppet in that game. She was angry at Illidan to have been so weak.

Once the pain began to fade off, she crawled to reach the pants she was wearing earlier and took a sheet of paper from it, the one Illidan received a little before transforming. It was a stupid idea, thinking that a vulgar piece of sheet could corrupt a demon but it was actually the only thing close to a clue she had.

Looking at it, she recognized Velen’s writing, reminding Illidan of an important meeting the next day, about the Tomb. The letters were shining green but it wasn’t unusual, they were using a special fel ink made by some demon hunter to make the writing communication easier with everyone. The ink could be read by anyone, spectral sight or not.

But it was like it was shining way too bright. Most of the times, it was a nice dark green with some highlights but this time, it was almost fluorescent. Taken by some intrusive thought, she brought the paper near her face and sniffed it a little and if it had no particular odor, she felt a small headache that disappeared as soon as she put back the paper away from her face.

In the end, maybe she had the clue she was searching for.

Even if she only wanting to get back on this new hunt, her body quickly call her to order and she had no other choices but to stay in bed and sleep. After all, she would need all her strength once she’ll face the culprit.

 

The loud and pressing knocks on the door made Maiev jump and instinctively, she reached for a weapon and stood still, barely conscious of what was happening. Her back protesting by the sudden moves quickly got her to completely wake up. She saw she was still in her room and that nothing was really threatening her.

The knocks on the door continued and she groaned while putting the knife away. For the very first time in years she really needed to sleep, she obviously had to be waking up only a few hours after closing her eyes. No matter who it was, she would make sure they would regret it at some point.

“What?!” Barked Maiev.

The knocks stopped and everything went silent. Maiev didn’t know if she had scared off the knocker or if it was just a stupid prank someone was making.

“Maiev? It’s me Sira.” A voice finally spoke. “Can I enter?”

The only positive thought Maiev got, was that if it was Sira, it was somewhat serious or at worst, just a problem she probably could take care of herself but needed Maiev’s advice.

“Come.” Just said Maiev, rubbing her face to wake herself a little more.

The young Warden entered the room and let out a sigh of relief to see Maiev sitting on the bed, looking really angry but fine.

“What is it?” Maiev asked, unable to hide the anger from her voice.

She saw the Warden searching for her words.

“We haven’t seen you for two days.” Finally said Sira. “We were all worried, especially Khadgar when we told him we hadn’t even seen you for the morning training and then…”

“Two…Days?” Maiev repeated, more to herself.

The more she was thinking about it, the more she was remembering blurry memories of the room, mostly from when she would turn around when her back was painful again. They might have been real and not kind of dreams. And how does no one came to check on her before? Why waiting for two days?

“Why didn’t you come yesterday?” Maiev asked, cutting Sira who was still explaining how Khadgar was worried.

“I did. More than once but you never answered and you know we learned the hard way to not test your reflex when you sleep.” Sira told her, remembering the few times Maiev had been able to throw a knife in her sleep if she was feeling threatened. “We would have tried something else if you weren’t answering tonight either.”

“Why being so worried? I could have left for some secret mission or my current task.”

“Well, like I told you Khadgar seemed extremely worried even if he didn’t tell us why and a demon hunter confirmed you were still in this room. And also Illidan…”

Maiev jumped on her feet, not caring about her back screaming at her and faced Sira, doing her best to hide her concern.

“What did he said?!” Urged Maiev.

Sira stepped back, uneasy.

“He just kept asking us if we were certain you were alright. He didn’t say much like Khadgar but the fact the Illidan himself was worried for you…Scared us I would say.”

Maiev sighed and stepped back too, relieved that apparently, no one had been aware of what happened and went to reach for her armor.

“Alright, it’ll be alright now. I just needed to rest because this new hunt is more tiresome than I expected.” She said, dismissing Sira. “You can leave, it won’t happen again.”

Respectful of her superior, Sira quickly bowed and left the room, decided to not question more. Finally, alone, Maiev slowly put back her armor, the pain almost coming back at every move but she couldn’t afford to leave without it, people would question it and she wasn’t going to answer.

As she was carefully tying her chest plate, she started to think about everything she had to do. Checking on Illidan and making sure he told no one about that night was the first thing on that list. Then she’ll have to interrogate Velen about the paper he wrote for Illidan, even if she was hoping he had almost nothing to do with the final product but it was necessary. And no matter what conclusion she’ll get from Velen, she would still need some demon hunter to look at it.

The next few hours were going to be really busy.

 

_Pain._

_The vision was blurry._

_A light stain on a dark background was all he could see._

_The stain took a form and he didn’t like it. He had to get rid of it. It was dangerous and he growled._

_Never again!_

_Muffled sound and the form was still there. He wanted it gone. He wanted it dead._

_DEAD!_

_Pain. Again._

_This time it was different. It wasn’t in his head but outside._

_The form had a name._

_Maiev._

_What was the truth? Maiev or Death?_

_Or Death disguised as Maiev?_

_He growled._

_Death had to die but Maiev…_

_Maiev couldn’t be touched._

_Maiev couldn’t…_

_Maiev…_

_Maiev._

_But was she really here? Was it really her?_

_He touched her. He heard a muffled voice. His name?_

_It was her. It was her!_

_He wanted to get closer._

_Closer…_

_Close._

_Be one._

_It was good._

_He wanted more and more and more._

_What was that smell? Blood?_

_He would have sworn it was blood._

_Muffled sound again._

_Was he hurting Maiev?_

_Was it that? Could it even be?_

_But he just wanted her._

_Just wanted her –_

 

Illidan jumped and refrained a scream. Quickly grabbing the blanket, he brought it to his mouth and bite on it, muffling the cries and he was heavily sweating.

No. No, he didn’t want her. This was just a lie his mind was making. It wasn’t possible. He would never do that, not even to Maiev. As awful their relationship had been, he would have never go that far. He couldn’t and didn’t want it.

But here he was, his mind replaying the moment every time he would fall asleep. But he knew he fought and didn’t enjoy it in the slightest. His claws and horns were damaged and he remembered fighting, not wanting it. But the headache became so strong he wasn’t feeling it anymore and his mind just went blank. He almost wished that the first idea, killing her, had been the one he succumbed to. She probably would have killed him first and they wouldn’t be there.

He finally got out of his bed and went to sink his head into the basin full of cold water.

It happened two days ago. And he still hadn’t seen Maiev since. No one, in fact, saw her since. Well, Khadgar did apparently but he was refusing to talk about it. Was he aware of what happened? But in that case, why could he still walk freely around everyone? Wouldn’t it be better to just lock him up? If not simply kill him again? But no one was looking at him with the disgust and hate he was expecting. Did Maiev didn’t tell anyone? Could it be?

And still, she was nowhere to be seen and even the Wardens were starting to freak out. How much did he hurt her? He couldn’t know and he was afraid. He was perfectly aware that he was on thin ice since his resurrection and obviously, he was now dealing with full-on corruption. He could only wonder why. But he had no answer. Drying his face, his thoughts unfortunately still unclear, he sighed. If Maiev wasn’t showing today, he would have to step up and go see her by himself. It had become his responsibility.

Leaving his room, he kept repeating to himself that he never wanted it and that he wasn’t wanting her. But was it true? Or just the corruption playing with his mind?

 

Hours passed and Illidan grew not only impatient but also more and more anxious. Maiev still hadn’t be seen and as his mind wandered, he even wondered if, in the end, he could have killed her. He was now believing that everyone was looking at him, judging and sentencing him to death. And they wouldn’t be wrong to do so.

Once they passed noon, Illidan felt sicker every minute and even almost threw up. It was like some weight was pushing him towards to ground and he knew that if he was trying to move, he would likely fall. He wasn’t even paying attention to his surroundings. The sight was blurry and all sounds muffled. So when he felt someone grabbing him by the waist and forced him to sit, he almost fought back.

“I said, sit down Illidan.” Velen, repeated, being the one forcing him on the ground. “You look awful.”

“I am awful,” he muttered.

He was slowly realizing that all of his body was weak and he even wondered how he could have stayed up all this time. Velen gave him a fruit and he wasn’t even sure he would have the strength to eat. But as the Prophet stayed crouched next to him, he took a bite.

“Are you alright Illidan?” He asked, not even hiding his concern. “You’re awfully pale, barely stand on your hooves and do you hear yourself? Those are just whispers and muttering.”

“No…No I’m not feeling alright,” He admitted. “I’m afraid about tho– the corruption.”

“Did something happened?”

For a moment, Illidan hesitated. Should he say the truth or lie about it? Telling the truth would guaranty his death but if really killed Maiev, lying would have been useless. But at the same time, he felt that he had to wait.

“No,” he softly whispered. “But what if it happens again? And that I’m actively trying to hurt those around me? And what if I succeed?”

Velen put a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

“If this can help you, I do not foresee any corruption for you.”

“Does it means it’s over?” Hopefully asked Illidan.

“Yes, it is.”

Illidan sighed out of relief, thankful to not be able to cry anymore. He was only hoping that Velen was right and that he would never get corrupted again. But quickly, his main concern came back as he realized that Maiev was still not there. Maybe it would be over for the corruption but the consequences of the second one would stay. Feeling slightly better but still horrible, he stood up, helped by Velen and muttered he was going for walk.

His steps led him to the south of Deliverance Point and even if he was still feeling awfully sick, being away from everyone sight was making him a little better. He looked at the horizon for only Elune knew how long, doing his best to empty his mind and stop thinking about those last days.

“Thank the Goddess, you’re here.”

A voice he knew too well. A voice he wished to hear.

Turning around, almost jumping on his hooves to join her, he finally saw Maiev, wearing her armor. She was walking towards him and Illidan wondered doing the same, maybe running, as she was looking fine and not dead like he was fearing. In the end, he stayed still, waiting for her. Once at his level, she grabbed his arm and he could feel the nervousness from her hold.

“Please tell me you didn’t tell anyone.” She whispered.

“No, I didn’t but –”

“No! No one should know Illidan. Be smart for once!”

Her voice was shaking, almost desperate.

“But Maiev, I…I…”

The word was refusing to leave his throat.

“I hurt you.” He finally said.

“Yes, I’m hurt. It was painful in every sense but please Illidan, this wasn’t you and you know it.”

His dream came back to hit him. How it felt. How he wanted her.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I saw you fighting. If you were accepting it, my back wouldn’t be the only wounded part of me.”

At the mention of her back, Illidan reached his hand to it but quickly got it back. He couldn’t touch it.

“Give me a week and it’s over Illidan.”

This was the last straw for him. How could she be so nice to him? Why would she help him? After everything that happened between them.

“Maiev! Why?!”

He screamed those last words, breaking down as his body began to cry and he fell on his knees. He wasn’t deserving it. She should have told everyone and got him executed. Not protecting him for the consequences of his choices.

“I don’t want you to die.”

Her voice was sad and he rose his head to look at her. With his spectral sight, he could see her fighting her tears and he began to remember all those times she would justify her recent action by telling him she wanted to kill him herself, to choose how he died. And now, she was perfectly honest with him.

“Please, don’t tell anyone.” She whispered, her hands on his shoulders. “I’ll take care of everything. You don’t need to tell anyone.”

As much as Illidan wanted to take her in his arms, he fought the need and didn’t move. He couldn’t touch her. He couldn’t.

With a sad smile, Maiev finally moved backward and asked one last time for his silence and she went back to Deliverance Point, leaving Illidan alone with his thoughts. At least, she wasn’t dead.

 

“Velen, tell me, did you write this?” Maiev asked.

The Draenei looked at her, a little surprised to see the Warden back when she told them she wouldn’t really come back to Deliverance Point before the end of her new hunt. But what surprised him more, was the paper she was holding. It was clearly his writing and he remembered doing it a few days ago for Illidan. So what was it doing with Maiev?

“Yes, I did.” Answered Velen.

“Do you still have the ink you used for it?”

“I will be honest with you Maiev, I don’t understand why you need that.”

“Just have something to verify.”

“Well, you are lucky. I still have the bottle on me.”

Maiev thanked Elune once more for her help into her investigation. And she wasn’t wondering why Velen would transport the fel ink with him. After all, if he got an important vision, he could put it on paper and now that the Illidari were there, it was a good idea to keep them in touch.

She grabbed the bottle and began to examine the ink. The green was still dark with the few highlights when put under a light. But even with the light of the sun shining directly on it, it wasn’t near to be fluorescent. So if the ink was really responsible for the corruption, he wasn’t coming from Velen itself.

She thanked Elune even more.

“Let’s be sure, the color is different right?” She asked Velen, showing him the paper and the bottle of ink.

“Indeed. But could it be the paper changing it?” Noticed the Prophet.

“By any chance, do you still have the same paper?”

“You also want the quill?” He laughed, getting them both out of his pocket. “I like to be prepared.”

Maiev softly whispered “Don’t” and quickly wrote a word on the paper. As the ink dried, it kept his usual color and the more she looked at the two papers, the less they were looking alike. It was obvious to her that the first one had been altered, probably after it left Velen.

“After you wrote it, who got it?” She asked, her eyes locked on that damned paper.

“I gave it to Kor’vas Bloodthorn as it was for Illidan.”

“Alright. Thanks.”

“I still don’t really follow you but, did something happened?”

“No.” Her answer had been straight. “But I’m making sure nothing will happen.”

“Alright. Good luck then.”

As the night was slowly falling on the Broken Isles, Maiev quickly left. She had to reach the Fel Hammer and find Kor’vas, preferably before the next day. Now that she was on the right path, it became a race against time.

 

“Warden Shadowsong? What are you doing here?” Kor’vas asked, smiling nervously as they were currently on the ship.

“Searching for answers.” She only said, keeping the paper in her hands, aware of how dangerous it could be here. “Did Velen gave you a piece of paper for Illidan, like two days ago? Something about a meeting.”

“Well, yes. But I gave it to Arathras, he’s the one taking care of the mail here.”

“Arathras? Never heard of him.”

“He joined us a little before you freed us. He helped the Illidari who stayed on the Fel Hammer to keep the control of Mardum and since we returned, became our mailman. He left the Legion when he had enough of fighting and killing for it.”

“Which kind of demon he is?”

“He’s a dreadlord.”

Maiev quickly remembered the dreadlord who interrupted their argument, giving him the paper. Was it Arathras?

“Alright. Second question.” She said, trying to stay calm. “Did you notice anyone who would follow Cyana path? Be it a demon hunter or just an Illidari.”

“No, and we make sure to remind everyone that if they even dare to join the Legion, they will bitterly regret it.”

“Nice, nice. And did other demons joined you with Arathras?”

“No, he was the only one and they even had to save him from other demons.”

Maiev only nodded, recording all the information she was getting and even if it was becoming hard, she was still holding onto the hope that she would find the one responsible for everything.

“Okay, last question.” She said, reaching the paper to Kor’vas but keeping it away enough. “Is there any problem with that paper?”

Before she could warm Kor’vas to not touch it, the paper was out of her hands and the demon hunter almost had her nose on it. But Maiev barely got the time to react that Kor’vas was throwing it away.

“Keep that away from me.” She hissed, holding his head with one hand. “That thing could corrupt anything!”

“I think I already guessed that.” Sarcastically said Maiev. “But what is it?”

She could see the hybrid fighting against the corruption and she could only think at Illidan who had kept it for so long. No wonder he ended up like that.

“That thing is impregnated with so much Fel that it could reverse any demon to his most primal instinct. Like, the demon could kill anyone he dislikes just a little.”

She crossed her arms, rethinking about that night and she felt her back aching. At least, it was confirmed that he did want to kill her at first but with how it ended, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the truth. As Kor’vas was still fighting against herself, Maiev felt guilty.

“Do you need me to restrain you?” She asked, her hands glowing.

“No, no. It’ll be alright.” Answered Kor’vas, slowly breathing. “It was nothing, not enough to let my demon take the control. Do not worry.”

“Alright. And I know I said this was the last question but…Does Arathras also bring to Illidan his paperwork?”

“Yes.”

Maiev repressed the smile. It wasn’t the moment to scare the demon hunter away.

“Get me something to write please.”

Quickly, Maiev wrote a few words on three paper and then, gave them to Kor’vas.

“This is for Khadgar, Velen, and Illidan. They need it now.” She told her. “And also, I would like to have a few words with Arathras when I’ll come back. I’ll meet him in Illidan’s working room.”

“Yes, Warden Shadowsong.” Only said Kor’vas, not really understanding the sudden change of tone.

Happy with herself, Maiev turned around, her cloak whipping as she walked away, seemingly leaving the ship.

 

As she hoped, the first thing Kor’vas did, was to warn the dreadlord that he was expected. Only after that, she would leave the Fel Hammer to find the three others commandant and with some hope, they would take quite some time before coming in. Just enough to interrogate the last suspect herself and act accordingly. Hiding her armor in a secret place on the ship, she then succeeded to avoid any Illidari on her way to the room. She had a lot of practice for it and it almost cost her life the last time.

Once in the hallway, she stopped for a moment, looking at the wall. She clearly discovered why no one still hadn’t brought it as her dried blood was actually mixing with the color of the stone. And it wouldn’t surprise her that the Demons Hunters wouldn’t see it with their sight. And now that she was thinking about it, unless you knew it was blood, it only looked like a normal wall from the ship. Good, Velen and Khadgar shouldn’t ask about it.

Taking one deep breath, she entered the room. The dreadlord was sitting at the desk, looking quite confused and almost afraid. He even let out a sigh of relief when he saw Maiev.

“Warden Shadowsong! Is there a problem?”

His voice was soft, concerned.

“Yes. This paper.” She said, harshly.

She hit the table with her palm, leaving the sheet on it so the demon could see it but not grab it.

“This is a paper I had to give to Illidan, Kor’vas asked me to do it.”

“I know. But this paper, or mostly the ink, is responsible for Illidan’s last corruption. And as he had nothing but papers on this very desk when it happened, it’s quite obvious to me what happened.”

“You…You wouldn’t shoot the messenger?!”

“Try me.”

The dreadlord moved backward on his seat. Maiev wasn’t getting her eyes off him and he could see the knives hanging around her belt. She had designated him as the culprit and wasn’t going to back off.

“How can you be so sure it’s me? I would never betray Lord Illidan!”

“Cut off that bullshit demon! You’re part of the most intelligent race of the Legion. You are sly, manipulator and worst of all, patient. It wouldn’t surprise me that you had been plotting this kind of plan before I even free the Demons Hunters.”

The dreadlord lowered his head and Maiev had to admit that he was quite good to play the victim.

“You had to survive didn’t you?” He finally said, dropping the innocent tone. “Why the fuck are you still both alive? He shouldn’t even come back alive from the first corruption.”

“You will have to learn that we are quite reckless on this planet.”

“My plan was perfect and he should have died. But no, you! You had to not kill him! When you wouldn’t stop telling everyone you would.”

Maiev kept smiling. All that she wanted was for the demon to confess everything. And it was feeling so good.

“And now, I found both of you arguing and it was just the right time to get him killed.” Said the demon, spitting his frustration. “One of you should have died if not both!”

“So…You intentionally corrupted him that night?” Her eyes were shining bright and her smile twitched as she felt her back aching more than never.

Arathras felt the cold shiver rolling down his spine but he barely got the time to move or say anything that Maiev had blinked. She was now holding him against the wall, her forearm on his throat while the other was on his chest, keeping him off the ground.

“To be honest Arathras, I didn’t really plan to do anything to you at first. After all, you could be useful for our fight against the Legion. But you see, your actions made me feels things. Things I kind of wished to never feel. And you will pay for it.”

The demon couldn’t even threaten her or tell her that someone else could replace him that she made sure his back was against the wall, and she began to run next to it, taking the demon with her.

His scream echoed through the room.

 

Following Kor’vas, the three commandants of Legionfall were softly talking between them. They all received a message from Maiev, telling them that she might have found an explanation for Illidan’s corruption and would be waiting for them to interrogate her main suspect.

Illidan was still looking awfully sick and became afraid that they could discover his second corruption. Especially that they would get into the place where it happened. But he decided to make them believe it was just some stress mixed to the impatience to get the culprit to pay for what he did. After all, he could try to corrupt anyone on the ship. But he was most impressed that Maiev had been that fast. She clearly knew the more time she would take, the more they would risk that it happens again and again.

Velen was next to him, a comforting hand on his shoulder and he was reminding him how he told him it would be over. Meanwhile, Khadgar thought it would help to tell him how the corruption had been quite harmless but for Kayn. But as the Demon Hunter was already back on his feet and was joking about it, they brushed it off. Illidan only smiled awkwardly, aware that he did way more harm than they knew. But he didn’t say anything, after all, Maiev had kept her promise.

As they arrived at the room, they heard Maiev’s voice shouting at them from behind them. She was running, quite easily with her armor, and joined them. She grabbed Velen and Khadgar by the shoulder, taking back her breath while turning them to face the door and not the wall.

“Sorry, couldn’t decide whether I had to take my special knives or not.”

“Maiev,” Velen said. “We are only going to ask that demon a few questions, we do not plan on torturing them.”

“Neither do me.” She said, shrugging. “Does Arathras is in the room Kor’vas?”

“Well, I told him to get here and he went by himself.”

“And does some of you are watching him?”

“No, but he had always followed the order. I don’t think he would try to run away.”

“I hope for you and him because I do not wish to get into a new hunt. Again.”

“Well, do we enter or not?” Finally asked Khadgar.

As they all approved, Kor’vas opened the door for them.

But as the odor of blood got them, they jumped back and tried to catch their breath. The odor was awful and from the glimpse of the room they saw, they knew it wasn’t pretty to see. Khadgar knowing they had to finish with it, made the effort to get into the room first, freezing his nose so he wouldn’t smell anything.

The demon was seating on the chair, his upper body laying the table. The wall behind him, covered with blood and the skin of his back had been torn off. The blood was still dripping from his body. This had been a slaughter.

“Well, our suspect is dead,” Khadgar shouted.

He heard Maiev swear and she pushed him out of the way. As she saw the body, she started to repeat no constantly, adding a few swears in between.

“How can I prove that he was guilty if he’s dead?!”

Then she went back to the swearing and Velen entered the room, slightly disgusted but not really surprised.

“I guess the Legion didn’t want him to admit it. Only someone acting for the Legion could do that with such brutality.”

Maiev left the room, still really vocal but Illidan saw the smile under her helmet. Her face was a complete contradiction to her words. As he entered the room, it wasn’t difficult for him to understand why. With how the back of the demon had been ripped off and with all the blood on the wall, he could only think on how Maiev probably got her revenge. But as she was hiding it, he said nothing about it.

“Good riddance.” He muttered.

 

Not even twenty-four hours after they found the demon dead, Illidan heard knocks on his door and unfortunately, as it was still covered by some demon’s blood for when Maiev would try to sneak into his room and try to kill him, he couldn’t know who it was. Sighing, he got out of his bed and went to the door. At least, he couldn’t be Maiev as she would probably never announce her presence beforehand.

So he got really surprised to see Maiev. She wasn’t wearing her armor but she was carrying a little box that he recognized as a first aid kit. She threw the box in his arms without ceremony and got inside the room.

“My back needs its bandage changed.” She simply said. “You owe me that.”

Illidan wasn’t sure he wanted to see it as it would remind him of that awful night but at the same time, after everything she did to hide it and protect him, he couldn’t say no. As he heard a painful hiss, he closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this concludes the story and I hoped you enjoyed it!
> 
> And Happy New Year to everyone :D
> 
> \----  
>  Unfortunately, english isn't my first language so if someone is interested in becoming my beta-reader for the language, hit me up on my Tumblr!  
> Or if you just want to talk about WoW, my fics, someone else fics or anything, you can still hit me up there!  
> You can also find my Masterlist with all the fics I plan to write ^^ Don't hesitate to tell me which one you want !
> 
> https://thewritingof-therose.tumblr.com/
> 
> Later!


End file.
